A quick update for Icedragon3643, and a couple of lovely guest reviewers. Thank you! Love, Coffee.

"We need to be more discrete," Kathryn muttered later as they ate their dinner together at the corner of her dining room table.

"You're right," he sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to complicate this!"

She laughed and reached for his hand across the table. He pulled it gently to his mouth and placed a light kiss there. She squeezed him affectionately.

"You weren't the only one making it complicated," she grinned ruefully. "I definitely contributed to the situation."

"Oh really?" He glanced over at her, tenderness in his eyes, and smiled.

"You were there," she smirked. "Remember?"

"Indeed, though I'm shocked to hear you admit it," he smirked. "And, I'd hardly call momentarily holding my hand the same thing as ravishing me in front of your crew," he gazed over at her. "Do you think we'll have any difficulty with those last few crew members? They seemed quite…intrigued by us."

"I don't think so," Kathryn frowned. "But we'll see how they are tomorrow."

"I can't imagine they'd begrudge you a little romance, sweetheart," Q sighed.

"There's a difference between their Captain having a little romance and their Captain being in a relationship with a Q aboard their own ship," she chuckled. "But they've really warmed to you, for the most part. That meeting today…"

"Oh yes!" he beamed. "They listened to me and seemed to respect my plan for meeting the Lursainians…I might actually like some of them now," his expression was humorously appalled.

"Keep trying, please," she laughed. "The more friends you make now, the easier it will be for us later on."

"Later on?" his expression was too bright, too hopeful. "What happens with us later on?"

What did happen later on? What was the plan? She was suddenly thinking this could work. She could see it now, in her mind's eye, what it would be like to have Q with her, and the crew accepting them together…

"I don't know," she evaded, surprised by the surge of longing she felt for the fantasy in her head, and afraid to commit to it here, now. "But whatever happens, at the very least, it will help to know they like you, and that they might not jettison you out an airlock if they catch us making eyes at one another," she quipped.

"Unfair that they would target me individually for such an incident—especially when you're the one who can't keep your hands off me!" he sighed with mock injustice, teasing her back.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she purred. "I didn't realize you objected," she flicked her blue eyes up at him suggestively.

"Of course not," he countered smoothly. "I was merely highlighting a small inconsistency in your due-process procedure. Throw me against a bulkhead and have your way with me right in front of them if the urge strikes you, Kathy dear—I won't protest for a moment!" he waggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed. "Who knows?" he continued slyly. "They might learn something…"

"Q," she laughed.

"For example," he rose and maneuvered himself behind her chair, leaned down and hooked his chin over her shoulder. "Do they know how exceptional your body is under this wretched uniform?"

She was still in her regulation turtleneck and trousers. He traced his index and middle finger down the side of her throat, pulled the fabric of the neck away from her skin and pressed his mouth to the flesh he'd exposed. She shivered and reached up to cup the back of his head, twinning her fingers through his thick black hair.

"Or the glorious symphony of sounds you make for me when I touch you?" this he whispered directly into her ear as he clasped her shoulders and worked his thumbs into the back of her neck and shoulder blades.

"Oh, it's your hands," she moaned, leaning forward to allow him better access. "They feel so good…"

"You feel good," he countered. "I've had nearly every experience the universe has to offer, and yet I'm never tired touching you over and over again…"

Before he could finish his sentence she was on her feet and pulling his mouth to hers, pulling his body against hers as closely as she could fit him.

"Me too," she gasped between alternately clutching him and giving him frantic kisses. "I need to hold you, to feel you near me…" she stopped for a moment to look him in the eye with a wry smile. "You're right—I can't keep my hands off you."

"Oh, my," he grinned mischievously after staring at her in disbelief for the briefest moment. "You've done it now—telling me I'm right and that you plan to continue touching me all over?" he put his face into her shoulder and sighed in resignation. "Very well."

"You agree?" she chuckled as he pulled back and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I can't seem to help myself either," he crooned into her ear as he pressed his uncomfortably swollen erection into her hip and let her feel the extent of his arousal. "You make me crazy with lust." He thrust his hips against her a few times in experiment and she moaned. "My sexy Starfleet Siren," he continued hyperbolically and she laughed at his alliteration. "Tell me again, darling, about your insatiable need to feel me up?"

"Oh better yet, I'll show you," she smirked, pulling him along with her towards the bedroom. The dishes could wait. "Just over here my quantum, er, quixotic Q," she attempted, and he laughed loudly.

"Not bad."

"I try."

She pulled him against her one more time and kissed him fiercely before he scooped her up and took her to bed.